Five weeks into Beacon and Weiss Schnee was doubting her decision to enter said academy.

When she had been made team leader Weiss had expected that things would go quite smoothly. it didn't turn out quite like that.

The first problem was her teammates. While Jaune and Ren were decent and willing to study, Nora Valkyrie was little more than an energetic child in Weiss's opinion. Unable to focus on anything for more than a minute, and she had antics that made her clearly unsuited for life at Beacon. Worse was her influence on Ren, the best of Weiss's teammates, as she would often make him take her side in arguments rather than Weiss's. This was unacceptable. As team leader they should both automatically be folding to and trusting her opinion and following her orders above all else.

Secondly was her partner. He had been passable and inoffensive in the initiation, but when they finally entered Beacon proper, he proved himself incompetent, both academically and in combat. He had seemingly never picked up a book before entering Beacon, even Ruby who was skipped forward by two years was doing better with her tests than him.

Watching Jaune in combat was also a painful experience. His form was sloppy and his technique non-existent. His only saving grace was his massive aura, second only to Ruby's (who had enough aura for three additional fully trained huntsmen), that allowed him to tank a good bit of damage.

Needless to say she had snapped at her teammates a few times over the past five weeks.

This Tuesday proved a great example for this.

Weiss could only sit in embarrassment as she watched Jaune be pummelled by Cardin Winchester of all people.

Jaune had just been sent to the ground by Cardin delivering a decent jab to Jaune's gut, a buzzer rang out and Weiss checked her scroll. Jaune's aura was in the red. Again.

Winchester backed off and Jaune got roughly back on his feet.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red," Professor Goodwitch told them. "In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle, and that the official may call the match."

The professor turned to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, it's been weeks now. Please try to refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your Aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it is better to move to a more... defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf, now, would we?"

Those word filled Weiss with something akin to anger and irritation. Weeks in and her partner still hadn't improved.

How was she supposed to cope with a partner like this?

"Remember, everyone, the Vytal Festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practising! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale!"

The announcement from Professor Goodwitch calmed Weiss's temper somewhat.

The Vytal festival and tournament was something Weiss really wanted to win.

But she knew that it wouldn't be easy, as she would most likely be in competition with team RPBY who had the best combat rankings in first year.

For good reason as, the leader Ruby, had enough aura for herself and an additional 3 huntresses which was combined with some truly great combat techniques that made it clear why she was Currently at the top of first year combat rankings.

Of course Ruby's partner Pyrrha Nikos, was a very close second in said combat rankings, being a famous tournament fighter and undefeated in the mistral regional tournament. Yang was the Equivalent of a tank and wrecking-ball combined and Blake was a fantastic support that knew where and when she was needed.

So going against their team at any stage would not be easy.

Still, it would be near impossible if her team wasn't ready by may at the end of the school year, when everything took place.

Spying her partner, still on the floor of the arena, Weiss formulated a plan. She was going to have a talk with her partner.

"Jaune!"

The boy in question jumped at his named being suddenly called out. It was satisfying to see, after having waited for the last 20 minutes for him to leave the showers and get dressed.

"Oh! Hey Weiss," Jaune said nervously. "What's up?"

Taking extra care to look him dead in the eyes, Weiss walked over to her partner until she was right next to him. It was unfortunate that she had to look up to him to maintain eye contact but she kept it none the less.

"You and I need to talk about your, sub-par abilities," Weiss informed him.

"Sorry Weiss but I promised Pyrrha I'd meet her after class," Jaune laughed nervously as his eyes darted from left to right like he was looking for an escape.

"fine," Weiss said before launching into her amended demands.

"Tonight, you and I are going to have a talk alone in our dorm room. There we will be discussing your, sub-par and lacklustre, disappointing performance, over these past few weeks. Understood?" Weiss told him, channelling all of her frustration and anger into a very dangerous tone.

The result was a rather miserable looking Jaune.

"Alright."

"You may go," Weiss told him coldly.

Jaune walked away in a rather dejected fashion, that made Weiss slightly uncomfortable. She didn't like seeing it, but she had done what was good for the team and now she would get some answers.

Assured that she had done the right thing, Weiss took some self-assured steps to the gardens only to be stopped by a familiar voice.

"You know, there are times you remind me of you father."

"Headmaster Ozpin!" Weiss blurted out in surprise, recovering for the shock she said, "An- a pleasure to see you sir. What brings you here this fine evening?"

"The simple pleasure of a walk Miss Schnee," Ozpin said enigmatically. The old headmaster took a sip for his coffee. "Would you care to join me?"

"Of course," Weiss replied and joined him in the walk around the school before hesitantly asking. "What do you mean about my father?"

"You remind me of him sometimes," He took a sip again and started a slow walk that Weiss joined him on. "In the way you act and react. In the way you both talk, and most of all, in the way you treat your subordinates."

"I am not my father," Weiss told him, unable to stop the bitter tone that came from her mouth.

"No," Ozpin agreed. "But you are his daughter. And like it or not, you will have picked up habits from him."

Weiss was silent as she considered what he had told her.

"Can I ask you a question, Miss Schnee?" Ozpin suddenly asked.

Taken aback, Weiss could only reply, "Of course."

"Why come to Beacon instead of Atlas? Where you would have had a far better time of dealing with teammates, more advantages because of your status, becoming a huntress. Why leave?"

Weiss remained silent as she considered what to tell the headmaster. Lie or truth?

Knowing better than to lie to the wisest person in Remnant, Weiss told the truth.

"To get away from my father," She paused to take a breath before continuing "As long I can remember, I have been in my father's shadow. From day one, I listened and hung onto every word he said, only at age 12, I started to really recognise and think about all of his… negative traits. The company practices, his controlling nature and his… attitude to the Faunus. So by age thirteen, I vowed to make things better. If I had taken a job in Atlas or joined it's academy, it wouldn't have changed anything. I would still be under his thumb. I want to make things better, my father was not the start of our name, and I refuse to let him be the end of it."

Weiss took a deep breath as she finished her small speech to Ozpin. She didn't dare look at him, waiting for a reaction.

He seemed to contemplate on her speech for an unbearably long time as they stopped at a railing at a cliff, that overlooked Vale.

"Of all the Schnee's I have met, you are by far the most tolerable and certainly one of the more moral," Ozpin finally said. "You have noble goals Miss Schnee, but it will be a long road."

Ozpin turned his head to look Weiss in the eyes.

"Your road will be long, but you do not have to travel it alone. Your friends, teammates and partner will all be there for you to help you down it's long and winding path," Ozpin took a long sip form his coffee. "But the road will be lonely if you travel down your current path, you will need to find your own style of leadership, different from your fathers."

"I am NOT leading, like my father," Weiss cut in angrily. She was better than him. She did not resort to the moral shortcuts that he did.

"You react with anger at criticisms of your leadership, you loath when your teammates take the initiative out of your hand, you tolerate no attempts at fun and you act cold to all those you consider, beneath you," Ozpin looked back into the distance. "You are your father's daughter."

Weiss was speechless as her thoughts ran wild. She wasn't like that as a leader. Was she?

Her mind jumped back to previous instances of her interacting with her team. Criticising Jaune like her father would do to her. Blowing up at Nora for pushing off her homework like he would do to Weiss when her grades slipped. The passive aggressive comments she made to Ren when he tried to talk to her, Just like the ones he would make to board members and interns.

Her breathing slowed as she came to a realisation.

I am acting just like father.

"Do not worry yourself or blame yourself miss Schnee, this is a learned behaviour." Ozpin said knowingly as he turned away.

"Then what can I do to change?" she asked with slight desperation, she had to know what she should do to change.

"All I can tell you is that, leaders instil in their people, a hope for success and a belief in themselves," Ozpin paused. "Positive leaders will always empower their team to accomplish their goals."

With this Ozpin walked away, leaving Weiss with conflicted and self-loathing thoughts, that she could be just like him.

She stumbled mindlessly to a nearby bench, not thinking about the action itself.

She had a lot to think about.

Elsewhere in Beacon, Ruby Rose was trying to study.

This wasn't an unusual Occurrence from Sarge's point of view, Ruby was often hitting the books to catch up in her two year jump from Signal.

What was unusual was the fact that she had been looking at the same page and subsequent homework question for the past hour.

Obviously something was wrong.

Figuring that he was the most qualified to deal with this, Sarge pulled himself up to Ruby's bunk bed where she was Currently studying.

It was hard work, but soon he was up in a sitting position next to the young leader.

Ruby only spared him a small glance and a quiet "Hey," before returning to her book.

"Sooo," He said as casually as possible, "What's the matter lil' lady?"

"Nothing," Came the mumbled response.

Well at least the mumbling was normal, as the rest of her team was Currently in the room, but absorbed in their own tasks.

Yang was reading of those comic books, the kind Simmons and Grif would read together when off duty.

Blake was also ready, but this time one of those regular paper books. Sarge had one or two of those back home, mostly military history and cattle farming.

Finally Pyrrha was also studying at the only available desk.

Sarge now contemplated Ruby's response. Nothing huh?

Sure.

And Donut was going to marry an exotic dancer named Tiffany and have twelve children.

"Tell me the truth Ruby," Sarge told her, going for the direct approach, as was red team standard protocol. "Somethin's obviously bothering you. Just tell me."

Ruby sighed and put down her book.

"Just this stupid assignment from professor peach," Ruby explained, "I don't understand more than half of what this stupid book is saying." Ruby finished with another sigh.

Ah so that was the problem. looks like she was still playing catch up then.

"Honestly, I'm behind in every class that isn't combat," Ruby continued. "It kinda makes me want to scream and tear out my hair or something."

"Well," Sarge began at length. "Seems to me like you are looking at this from the wrong angle."

"Huh?"

"You need to get help from your team," Sarge told her bluntly, no need to sugar coat it like a dirty blue.

"No, Sarge that is a terrible idea," Ruby whispered to him. "I'm the leader, I can't burden my team with my own problems."

Ruby whispered the next bit so quietly Sarge could barely hear her.

"That would make me a- a- a bad leader."

Ruby looked absolutely terrified at the concept, Sarge blamed Wash for such a blue team reaction and way of thinking.

Taking off his helmet to become more personable, (and show off his amazing beard that had developed under his helmet), he looked at the future of red team and began to dispense his wisdom.

"Firstly, knock off the idea that you are a bad leader. You are one of the finest commanders I have seen in my many years serving the Red army!"

Ruby nodded.

"Secondly, asking our team for help is an inherent part of the red team experience! Why do you think I stuck with the same troops for years on end?" He finished rhetorically.

"Good company?" Ruby answered anyway.

"Of course not!" Sarge shook his head, that was only a small (minuscule) part of it. "I kept Simmons around for his incredible hacking skills, as I was never good with the numbers and such, Donut was there for his incredible arm, he could hit any target with his Grenades. And finally Lopez was there, to be a fellow competent solider to work with."

"What about Grif?"

"He made excellent target practice," And kept Simmons happy for some bizarre reason, but Sarge wasn't touching that topic. "The point is, while you can be a good leader on your own, the best leaders take help from their teams. Got it?"

Ruby looked away and considered what he had said. She then sighed again. Was it healthy for someone to sigh that much?

"I don't want to be a burden," Was all she whispered.

"And you aren't," Sarge argued. "Just give it a try if nothing else, if your team is one worth its salt, they'll help ya."

"Alright," Ruby muttered. "Alright."

It seems that his expert advice had rejuvenated Ruby as she rolled off her bed and landed gracefully on the floor with all of her usual enthusiasm.

"Hey Pyrrha," She told her partner as she went next to her.

"Oh hi Ruby, what's up?" Pyrrha turned her head and smiled at the team leader.

"I-a was wondering, would y-you mind if- I mean could you uh, help me with my Dust homework?" Ruby said nervously, twisting the hem of her skirt.

"Of course! pull up a chair, I'm doing the same homework, we can do it together," Pyrrha said with a smile.

Ruby brightened and got the other chair from her work station, before going to get her stuff from where she left it on her bed.

As she collected her work, Ruby whispered a quiet, "thank you."

"Don't mention it," He chuckled as he put his helmet back on.

"Don't mention it."

Weiss was late to her own meeting with Jaune.

So it was of little surprise when she entered the dorm room to find him sitting on his bed.

He looked nervous, probably because she had kept him waiting for over an hour now.

She didn't mean to, but what Ozpin had said to her...

Suffice to say it had kept her thinking, she even missed dinner and was starving as a result.

So when she entered the room, she took a seat on her bed opposite Jaune's, keeping careful to avoid looking him in his eyes.

"Where's Ren and Nora?" The quietness of her voice surprised both Jaune and herself.

"Down in the kitchens," Jaune answered. "Nora wanted pancakes."

Well that explained it. If there was one thing Weiss had learned about her maniac teammate, it was that she had an obsession with pancakes. Considering that, that factoid was all she knew about Nora, said something about her leadership.

And Weiss didn't like it.

they sat there for a while, in silence. It was a very awkward silence, with neither side knowing what to say to break it.

The big speech Weiss had prepared earlier today was now a forgotten in the back of her mind, its composition now reminding her uncomfortably of one her father once gave her. In its place, she had nothing.

Then to her surprise, Jaune spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked, voice full of concern.

She looked up, Jaune had concern on his face, concern for her.

After how she had dismissed him, time and time again, ignored his attempts at conversation, he was still concerned for her.

"I'm fine," She lied to his face.

The ice broken, she decided to go to the point of this meeting, to remove his concern over her.

"Why are you failing Jaune?"

The question threw him through a loop, his face going through a range of emotions, from shock, to fear, to sadness, to worry, back to fear, before settling on resignation.

"I guess this was inevitable," Jaune gave a resigned half chuckle. "I w-was never really that good at anything."

Weiss said nothing, letting him say it in his own time.

"I-y-ya see, I li-lied," He said miserably. "On my application, I lied, I forged it, and kinda hoped it would get through."

He finished and seemed to brace for an inevitable burst of anger and rage to come from Weiss, one yelling match to end them all.

It never came.

Weiss was still absorbing the news. Her partner had cheated and lied his way into Beacon.

She wasn't sure what to make of the news.

So, she asked the only question that mattered.

"Why?"

Jaune, considered this for a moment, before launching into his reasoning.

"Cause this is always what I've wanted to be," Jaune looked away, from her. "My father, my grandfather, and his father before him were all warriors. They were all heroes. I wanted to be one, too. I was just never good enough." He took a deep breath, "I wanted to help people, I was never going to do that at home."

He looked to her for a reaction.

But Weiss was lost on how to react.

On one hand, he had cheated his way into Beacon, probably cheating some other student out of their place.

On the other, his reasons for doing so, being a hero, helping out his fellow man, wanting to live up to his family.

She could relate to those reasons, she knew what that was like.

What should she do?

She had no idea what father would do.

She had no idea what Klein would do.

She had no idea what Winter would do.

And there lied the problem, she always tried to do what others would do.

Right now she needed to think about what Weiss Schnee would do.

So, without thinking, she acted, saying the first thought that came to her mind.

"I willtrain you," Weiss told Jaune, with a Strength that surprised him and her in equal measure. "Every other night we will meet on the roof, and I will train you so that you can be better." Weiss continued, her resolve Strengthening with every word.

Jaune seem to be floored for his part, "But I- uh- you don't need-"

"Shut up," Weiss told him. "You are going to except my help without complaint, and you will get better. Understood?"

"W- why are you helping me?" Jaune asked.

"Well you are my partner," Weiss informed him like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "And I cannot let my partner fail after all."

That wasn't the only reason, there were so many, many more.

But for now, that was reason enough.

"Thank you."

"Your welcome," After a moment's thought, she added, "Dolt."

Meanwhile, in the forests of Mistral

The forest was peaceful, well as peaceful as a forest full of Grimm and miles away from civilisation could be. Then in a most violent manner, a flash of light appeared in the middle of a clearing. It was brief, but what it left behind, the inhabitants of the forest would remember for a life time.

Well, the surviving members of what happened next would.

A lone Beowolf was the first on scene as it sensed a great deal of negativity coming from the clearing, which often meant food and prey.

What it found was neither.

In the clearing was a lone human in armour, lying face down on the ground.

With a small amount of caution, it went over and sniffed the prone figure. Then without warning, the figure hand gripped it's throat and crushed it, giving the Beowolf no time to react, as it crumbled into dust.

The Grimm dealt with, the solider got up and examined their surroundings.

Where on earth where they?

Notes:

And that's the end of that chapter!

This was a nice one to look over, my first attempts at developing characters. Looking back, I think I did decently.

Anyhow, thanks for reading!